IMMIGRANTS BLAME GREEK AUTHORITIES FOR THROWING THEM INTO SEA

The latest deaths of migrants seeking to enter “Fortress Europe” by boat occurred this week in the Aegean Sea.

Twelve people seeking to enter Europe via Greece perished, including nine children aged between one and nine years. The boat contained 25 Afghans and three Syrians, the latter adults. Only two of the victims’ bodies have been recovered so far.

On Wednesday the bodies of a woman and a five-year-old child, were discovered off the Turkish coast.In recent tragedies, including the loss of around 360 migrants’ lives off the Italian island of Lampedusa, those who died did so when their boats capsized and before any rescue attempt could be mounted. In this case, evidence is emerging that the deaths Monday were the result of a deliberate policy by the authorities to “push back” into Turkish waters migrants seeking entry to Greece.

Greek authorities sought to blame the tragedy on the migrants, claiming that they had panicked and caused the boat to capsize. A statement from the Greek coastguard claimed that the boat carrying the migrants was found not moving and had no lights on, when they found it early Monday morning. The authorities said that due to poor weather conditions, a decision was taken to tow the boat to the Dodecanese islet of Farmakonisi. The deaths occurred in the process of escorting the boat to Farmakonisi, according to the authorities.Grief-stricken survivors refuted this version of events. Speaking to the Greek branch of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, survivors explained that the tragedy occurred as their boat was being pulled at high speed in stormy weather by the coastguard boat and headed back towards Turkey.

One of the survivors told the media that he had lost his wife and four children when the boat sank: “The coastguard hit them. They tried to jump on the boat. And the coastguard hit them with the door so they would fall back into the water.”He told how he heard his child shout, “Mama, Papa, help!” from the sea, but none of the coastguards helped.Another man said his wife, two sons and a daughter (aged 9, 11 and 13) all perished. He said coastguards were swearing at those on board the migrants’ vessel and “threw them into the sea, on purpose.”The Ecre NGO said, “Survivors tell that they were crying out for help, given that a large number of children and babies were on board.”

Karl Kopp, the director of European affairs for a German NGO, Pro Asyl, stated: “It is highly likely that this action by the Greek coastguard was an illegal push-back operation rather than a rescue at sea.”
On Tuesday the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) responded to the testimony of the survivors and called for an investigation into the tragedy.
Laurens Jolles, the UNHCR’s southern Europe regional representative, said, “UNHCR is urging the authorities to investigate this incident and how lives were lost on a boat that was under tow.”
The UN statement was silent on Greece’s notorious and illegal “push-back” policy. Instead, it called on “European and other governments to work together to reduce losses of life among people making dangerous sea journeys across the Mediterranean and the world’s other major sea frontiers, including by continuing to strengthen search and rescue operations, as well as the creation of legal migration alternatives to dangerous irregular movements.”
The Greek government is washing its hands of any responsibility. The survivors of the tragedy were taken to the Greek island of Leros and were, with one exception, taken to and held in Leros police station. The survivors were then charged to get a ferry to the main Athens port of Piraeus, with the fee paid by Amnesty International.